𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐉

𝟎𝟏𝟏.𝟐

Adam raised his hand, signaling for peace. "Enough! Juliet, try to control yourself, and Cordelia, let's not make this reunion any more unpleasant than it already is. Now," He sighed reigning his anger back and turning to Juliet, "let's get back to what we were talking about this morning, how's been camp?"

Juliet huffed but the mention of camp was enough to distract her, she felt pride and unease swell in her chest. She hated her mother but somehow still craved her attention and approval, maybe if Cordelia listened to Juliet's quest she would finally be proud of her. "Well," She began cautiously, clearing her throat and not making eye contact, "I was on a quest this summer too, we went to the sea of monsters, Bermuda Triangle basically, and got the Golden Fleece for camp. I also won the the chariot race. and we-"

"That's all? Really? You are bragging about this? You grandfather conquered the entire continent and you," Cordelia snapped out deflating the mood again. Adam shot Cordelia a stern look, his patience wearing thin. "Cordelia, can we please keep the negativity to a minimum tonight? Let's focus on the positive things."

Cordelia rolled her eyes but held her tongue for the moment. But the anger was back and Juliet pushed her plate away and growled out to her mother, "Yeah and you? What were you doing? talking shit with UN delegates out there, not really risking your life, so I don't think you have any entitlement to tell me what is a disgrace or not. We were better off without your stuck up attitude."

The room fell into an awkward silence, the tension escalating as Juliet's words hung in the air. Cordelia's face twisted in a mix of anger and disbelief, while Adam tried to diffuse the situation once again.

"Let's not turn this into a confrontation," Adam said sternly. "We're here to catch up and have a family dinner. Juliet, you've had your say, let's move on."

But Juliet was unrelenting, fueled by years of resentment. "No! It's about time someone said it. She can't just waltz back in here and act like she's better than everyone else. I've been managing just fine without her constant criticism."

Cordelia, now visibly angered, retorted, "You have no idea what it takes to maintain a certain standard, to uphold the family name. You're just a child playing hero in your little camp."

Juliet stood up, her chair scraping against the floor. "I'd rather be a hero in a 'little camp' than someone who abandons their family to chase some delusional idea of entitlement."

Adam tried to intervene, "Let's all take a step back—"

But Cordelia had reached her limit. "I didn't come back to be insulted by my own daughter," she snapped.

"I'm not your daughter," Juliet growled out, heading towards the exit of the dining room, "Haven't been since you abandoned me that day in the Greece."

Cordelia, fueled by her own frustration, shot back, "I don't need to explain myself to you. If you're so content in your 'little camp,' then maybe you should've stayed there."

Juliet, her eyes flashing with defiance, retorted, "Maybe I would've been better off."

With that, Juliet stormed out of the dining room, she'd had enough. Cordelia couldn't just rush back into their lives and expect to act like they were the picture perfect family where she hadn't emotionally tortured and abandoned her child, while marrying a man for only his status and not love. She was so fucked up, Juliet didn't even know what made her mom so extremely sick.

She headed towards the backyard, the new house was in a suburban area, two story victorian dream with a huge backyard and front lawn. The morning of moving in Juliet had set up an archery arena in the backyard, Archery helped blow off her steam and it made her feel closer to the only parental figure in her life right now who she was extremely close with which was Apollo.